How great was Kapil Dev as an all-rounder?

[Harsh Thakor]

Arguably no cricketer  defined Indian cricket or took it to such a pedestal or height as the legendary Kapil Dev.Few cricketers have ever been as explosive or entertaining in the history of the game.A swashbuckling innings or a fiery spell by Kapil Dev could turn the complexion of a game like a hurricane or tornado arriving .

 

Kapil was one of the hardest hitting batsmen ever in the history of the game who carried bat like a club and literally shaved a cricket ball.On his day he would take the best bowling attacks to mercy  y the sword.I can never forget  his 89 runs of 55 balls at Lords in 1982 and 77 with 4 consecutive sixes on the same venue in 1990.He simply looked in complete commander like an Emperor annexing territory after territory.His swashbucking 69 at Mumbai and 84 at Madras in 1979-80 played a great role in India beating Pakistan in 1979-80 at home.He also scored a match saving unbeaten century at Trinidad against the best pace attack of all time as well as a classic match turning unbeaten 163 in the tied test v Australia in 1986.His last century against a top pace attack in South Africa p[roved that on his day he could dominate bowling like any great batsmen.In the 1983 world cup his unbeaten 175 ressurected India from the grave to reach the pinnacle of glory like no knock in the history of the world cup.

 

No paceman bowled a better outswinger than Kapil who troubled even the likes of Viv Richards,Greg Chappell or Zaheer Abbas..On flat tracks no fast -medium bowler equalled Kapil's skill who captured more than half of his 434 scalps on flat tracks.Kapil captured 7 or more wickets 4 times which is remarkable with his 9-83 v West Indies in 1983-84 at Ahmedabad v West Indies as his best figures.His 8-85 at Lahore was another great spell where he captured scalps of greats like Zaheer,Javed and Imran.Kapil had many 5 wicket hauls v West Indies which is remarkable.Overseas his best performance was capturing 25 wickets in a test series in Australia in 1981-82.At home he was at his best against Pakistan in 1979-80 when he had 32 scalps.No fast -medium bowler before Glen Mcgrath arguably bowled as intelligently as Kapil and so comprehensively understood the weaknesses of batsmen.

 

In ODI's he was arguably the greatest all-rounder ever and be te 1st choic e as an all-rounder for the world xi.As a skipper there were 2 sides to the story.He was a great motivator but not always sound as a tactician.He was positive but could often let thing slip.Neverthless his leading India to the world cup victory against all odds in 1983 speaks for itself which wrote a new chapter or defined a new epoch in Indian cricket history.

 

On figures Kapil would rank below greats like Sobers,Kallis,Imran ,Botham,Miller or even Hadlee.In his era he was statistically overshadowed by Botham,Imran and Hadlee .However one must throw light on the fact that Kapil bowled on placid Indian tracks that too with no support unlike Imran or Wasim.Kapil did not have the assistance of seaming attacks  or conditions like Hadlee and Botham.Versus West Indies Kapil was much more successful than Botham and suprisingly the most succesful all-rounder of the quartet.Kapil twice overshadowed Botham as an all-rounder as in 1981-82 at home and 1981-82 in England.For sheer all-round performance his 8 wickets for 168 and scores of 41 and 89 compare with an all-round performance of any great all-rounder.On that day at Lords he lifted India from the depths of despair to ultimately send tremors in the English camp like a bomber launching a counter -attack on an airbase.After scoring 89 runs he had England reeling at 18-3 and totally ressurected the spirit of India which was virtually dead and buried a little more than an hour before.In such a short span of time I have never witnessed such a herculean cricketing effort.Imran overall was a better pace bowler and more consistent batsmen but at his best could not turn the complexion with the bat like Kapil.Imran was better at a defensive innings but Kapil was more capable of a match-winning knock with his flamboyance.Significant Kapil has the bets record amongst the 4 as a batsmen against the best team of the day or maybe all-time,West Indies.After capturing 5 wickets I would back Kapil after Botham to score a blazing  50 more than Imran or Hadlee.Kapil as a cricketer won more series or games than Gavaskar or Tendulkar which is notable.Even Jacques Kallis was not as dynamic cricketer as Kapil.

 

Kapil has been ranked at 48th pace amongst the 100 best cricketers of all-time bu Cristopher Martin Jenkins and John Woodcock and around 38th by Geoff Armstrong.Al placed him above Jacques Kallis,because he was a greater match-winner.Arguably had Kapil been an Englsihgman or an Australian he would have been much more closer to the like sof Lillee and Marshall or Mcgrath but course he would have had to bat in more testing conditions.Maybe I would rank Kapil just a notch below the likes of Imran ,Kallis and Botham as an all-rounder and a slender margin ahead of Hadlee .After Sobers and Miller arguably the most entertaining of all all-rounders.

 

Stats compiled by S.Rajesh from cricinfo

 

Kapil Dev's Test career in three parts

Period	Runs	Average	100s	Wickets	Average	5WI
First ten Tests	510	42.50	1	29	39.06	1
Next 52 Tests	1973	27.40	2	218	26.19	17
Next 69 Tests	2765	32.52	5	187	32.20	5
Career	5248	31.05	8	434	29.64	23

 

Kapil's best phase as an ODI bowler coincided with two famous victories in world events for India. During the period between May 1983 and March 1986, when India won the World Cup and the World Championship of Cricket, he averaged 31.25 with the bat and 20.39 with the ball, taking 69 wickets in 47 games. His performances remained impressive till the early 1990s, but in the last couple of years of his career his numbers fell away alarmingly: in 36 matches he averaged 13.50 with the bat and more than 37 with the ball. The only aspect that wasn't affected was his economy rate, which remained well below four runs per over.

Towards the beginning of the 1990s, the positive difference between his batting and bowling averages also began to close. Through most of the 1980s his batting average was more than the corresponding one for bowling, but the last time this happened was on December 15, 1991,when, after his 176th ODI, his batting average was 0.13 higher. As he neared the end of his career, his batting and bowling prowess both decreased, and he ended with a batting average almost four runs lower than the bowling one. (Click here for his cumulative ODI averages.)

 

Kapil's ODI career

Period	ODIs	Runs	Average	Strike rate	Wickets	Average	Econ rate
Till April 1983	32	608	20.96	107.80	34	31.20	3.78
May 1983 to Feb 1986	47	1000	31.25	98.91	69	20.39	3.51
March 1986 to March 1992	110	1878	24.71	93.75	123	28.17	3.81
Since April 1992	36	297	13.50	74.06	27	37.48	3.62
Career	225	3783	23.79	95.07	253	27.45	3.71

 

Kapil's overall numbers are impressive enough, but what stands out are his bowling stats against the best team of his generation. In 25 Tests against West Indies, Kapil took 89 wickets, which is his second-highest against a single team (he took 99 against Pakistan). The average of 24.89 is his best against any team, marginally better than the 25.35 he averaged in 20 Tests against Australia.

In the 1980s, Kapil was among the best bowlers against a line-up that included Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and Richie Richardson. He dismissed Greenidge eight times in Tests, and Haynes, Richards and Dujon seven times each. (Click here for more details.) In 19 Tests, Kapil's bowling average against West Indies was less than 23; among those who bowled at least 1200 deliveries against them during this period, only Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee, the two other great allrounders of the era, had better bowling averages. Ian Botham's numbers were a huge contrast to those of the three other allrounders, though: in 19 Tests he took only 58 wickets at an average of almost 36.

 

Best Test bowlers versus West Indies in the 1980s (Qual: 1200 balls bowled)

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/10WM
Imran Khan	10	52	16.68	38.3	5/ 1
Richard Hadlee	10	51	22.03	49.1	4/ 1
Kapil Dev	19	72	22.98	51.4	4/ 1
Abdul Qadir	8	40	28.07	55.2	1/ 0
Graham Dilley	11	36	28.77	56.6	1/ 0
Ewen Chatfield	7	23	31.43	69.5	1/ 1
Geoff Lawson	12	39	35.58	65.0	2/ 1
Ian Botham	19	58	35.84	59.4	3/ 0
John Emburey	14	30	39.26	87.9	2/ 0
Rodney Hogg	8	20	42.15	77.1	1/ 0

 

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by Harsh Thakor

[Austin 3:!6]

Great to nehi keh sakte but Mahaan zaroor keh sakte hai

[rtmohanlal]

stats alone can never be taken as yardstick . This is the case even for specialists. Then for allrounders it is even more important... i mean stats with out context is absolute meaningless. Kapil's bowl avg: should be evaluated based on longevity, lack of bowling support thru: out his career & work density(never took a break. always opted to play whether he was fully fit or not.In his first 62 tests he took 247 wkts in just 5 years & 5 months.After that knee injury and surgery came. Kapil just neglected this with out taking rest and played staightaway without keeping a bit for stats unlike some one like Imran who selected matches on his own to play .Naturally his stats suffered in the immediate 26 tests.But that was Kapil.)He just carried indian bowling on his shoulders Kapil's batting too is severely under rated.people just look at stats. But here too that avg: need to be evaluated based on longevity & non stop cricket for an allrounder.

 

Then what about his str: rate? almost 81 when 40-45s was the norm of even specialist batsmen baring Viv Richards(almost 70). Not only that Kapil played several quality destrutive inns against top class bowling attacks when India was really in back to the wall situations.Against WI in WI , the best team of the era he was the best by a long way among FAB4. Add to that the undisputed no: 1 one day all rounder of the 80s + a brilliant all round fielder + a great captain in his own right who led a mere ordinary team to world cup title which is a matter of folklore.

 

Another reason I never rate Imran off late in the same level as I used to be is based on the element of ball tampering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by rtmohanlal

[zen]

Great in first 10-12 years of his career! .... In ODIs, did not score a 50 in the last 6 yrs of his career. Probably, one of the pioneers of continuing to play even when past his best, a tradition that is still being continued 

 

 

[zen]

Kapil Dev in his last 100 ODIs:

 

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Career averages

	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5	Ct	St	Ave Diff
unfiltered	1978-1994	225	3783	175*	23.79	1	253	5/43	27.45	1	71	0	-3.65	Profile
filtered	1988-1994	100	1165	48*	17.38	0	106	4/31	28.04	0	25	0	-10.65

 

• His last 50 was probably in Jan 1988. retired in Oct 1994 

 

Test performances in the same period:

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	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5	Ct	St	Ave Diff
unfiltered	1978-1994	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	9/83	29.64	23	64	0	1.40	Profile
filtered	1988-1994	39	1359	129	28.31	2	115	6/84	29.67	4	16	0	-1.36

 

• Had a good series in Eng in 1990 and in SA in 1992 with the bat
• Had a good series in Aus in 1992 with the ball 
• Don't recall anything else that stands out apart from above 

 

[putrevus]

As pure all rounder at their peak. I would put Botham first,Kapil Second, Imran third and Hadlee fourth.Imran and Hadlee were bowlers who could bat, I don't classify them as allrounders. I don't think they ever had the ability of Botham or Kapil with bat.

Botham at his  peak was just fanatstic, he was a great slip fielder along with being a bowler who had knack of picking wickets.Botham had a very short peak of just five years/

 

[rtmohanlal]

1 hour ago, zen said:

Kapil Dev in his last 100 ODIs:

 

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Career averages

	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5	Ct	St	Ave Diff
unfiltered	1978-1994	225	3783	175*	23.79	1	253	5/43	27.45	1	71	0	-3.65	Profile
filtered	1988-1994	100	1165	48*	17.38	0	106	4/31	28.04	0	25	0	-10.65

 

• His last 50 was probably in Jan 1988. retired in Oct 1994 

 

Test performances in the same period:

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Career averages

	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5	Ct	St	Ave Diff
unfiltered	1978-1994	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	9/83	29.64	23	64	0	1.40	Profile
filtered	1988-1994	39	1359	129	28.31	2	115	6/84	29.67	4	16	0	-1.36

 

• Had a good series in Eng in 1990 and in SA in 1992 with the bat
• Had a good series in Aus in 1992 with the ball 
• Don't recall anything else that stands out apart from above 

 

so you expect  an all rounder(multi dimensional player)  who played both formats  for so long with such high work density & with very little support in his main disciplie(bowling) to sustain his performance thru out his career??

 

Keep in mind Kapil bowled a whopping 27740balls in mere 15 y & 5 m where as some one like Imran bowled mere 19500 balls in long 21 years.

 

Similarly Botham bowled 21815 balls in 14 y,10 m & 19 d that is 5433 days.

Work density of Botham is 21815 balls/14.897 years =1464.389 balls/year.

Work densiy of Kapil  in first 21823 balls is 21823/11.308 years = 1929.873 balls/year. 

 

Means 1929.873-1464.389= 465.484.So every year Kapil had to bowl 465.484/1464.389 = 31.79% more the no: of balls Botham had to bowl till his first
21823 balls, which makes it even bigger difference.

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by rtmohanlal

[zen]

A 10 yr period from 79-88, where many of the ARs were at their best, and after removing Pak as a host country, where umpiring was atrocious:

 

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Opposition team Australia  or England  or India  or New Zealand  or Pakistan  or West Indies

Host country Australia  or England  or India  or New Zealand  or West Indies

Start of match date between 1 Jan 1979 and 1 Jan 1989

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Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5	Ct	St	Ave Diff
Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ)	1979-1988	48	1817	103	29.30	1	265	9/52	20.17	28	19	0	9.13
MD Marshall (WI)	1979-1988	52	1290	92	22.63	0	269	7/22	20.59	17	23	0	2.04
Imran Khan (PAK)	1979-1988	30	1402	135*	37.89	2	125	7/40	22.96	9	6	0	14.93
N Kapil Dev (INDIA)	1979-1988	74	3069	126*	31.63	5	263	9/83	27.39	15	48	0	4.24
IT Botham (ENG)	1979-1987	77	4384	208	35.35	11	285	8/103	30.28	18	91	0	5.07
RJ Shastri (INDIA)	1981-1988	51	2146	142	34.06	5	116	5/75	37.06	2	23	0	-2.99
JE Emburey (ENG)	1979-1988	50	1193	75	19.88	0	111	7/78	38.48	5	29	0	-18.60

 

 

• Impressed by Marshall, who was mainly a bowler but stepped us as a batsman
• Bothan hit 11 test 100s, including a 200 
• Imran's avg is 38 but has 9 not outs in 46 innings 
• Hadlee with 28 5 wkts hauls is among the biggest match winners in tests, along with Bradman and Sobers. NZ only won when he played iirc  

 

 

[putrevus]

Who cares about averages for no7 batsmen, what is important for no7 batsmen is amount of knocks which they played when their team was under pressure. Kapil had a knack of playing these great knocks when his team was under pressure.Most of his 100s or 50s were scored when his team was under pressure.

 

In odis in his later stages his role was never defined and that is one of main reasons why India was one of the worst odi team in late 1980s.There were too many tuk tuks like Manjerkar in the team who had no fricking idea how to bat.He would come in with very few over lefts and had to go from ball one.That is where lack of captaincy hurt Kapil, there was no reason for him being sacked as a captain after 1987 world cup.BCCI was led by morons then.

 

India was one of least talented team in later half of 1980s other than Sunil Gavaskar there was no other world class player in team in 1980s. Did he stay too long, yes like all other Indian players including Sachin he stayed too long, he should have gone after 1992 world cup.

 

 

[Gollum]

Don't be a slave to stats, Kapil was the best ODI AR of that era and by a long distance.

 

In tests he was comfortably behind Imran (still a tamperer)/Botham as AR. Hadlee even though not exactly an AR was a better package than KD because his bowling was way superior. Talking about peak, Botham in his 1st 5 years was the GOAT.  

[rtmohanlal]

56 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Don't be a slave to stats, Kapil was the best ODI AR of that era and by a long distance.

 

In tests he was comfortably behind Imran (still a tamperer)/Botham as AR. Hadlee even though not exactly an AR was a better package than KD because his bowling was way superior. Talking about peak, Botham in his 1st 5 years was the GOAT.  

care to know as to how Kapil was comfortably behind Botham as a  test allrounder????  Even their plain numbers with out context are very close to each other. 

 

Kapil 31.05 avg + '80.91 - 82.5'str: for a no:7 batsman

Botham 33.54 + 60.71str: for a no: 6 batsman.

Kapil   was so far ahead from Botham against WI  in WI( the best team of their era).

 

In bowling Botham 28.4 avg: after 21815 balls.Kapil 29.11 avg: after  21823 balls.  In his first 21823 balls(almost similar to Botham's 21815) where he averaged 29.11,Kapil's support bowling  unit's combined avg: was 38.8.For Botham the respective value was only 31.53. See the big difference of 38.8 - 31.53 = 7.27. In other words when ever Kapil played a test till he bowled his first 21823 balls, he bowled along with basically 3 fellow bowlers in general(assuming the team combination is 6 batsmen + 4 bowlers in
general) who avg:ed 38.8 each, where as for Botham it was only 31.53 .

And in WI  ,Kapil raised his performance to unparalleled levels with a 23.11 avg: where as Botham had a paltry 39.5 avg:  in WI.

Edited April 30, 2019 by rtmohanlal

[Straight Drive]

Kapil was better than Botham, Imran and Hadlee.

 

 

 

[Nikola]

I can't compare Imran cause of tampering.

 

Kapil = Botham for me but Hadlee just as bowler was way better than both.

[neel roy]

2nd ODI, India tour of West Indies at Albion, Mar 29 1983 - just before the world cup

 

Kapil Dev scores 72 off 38 balls..i mean think about it.72 off only 38 balls in that era .against freaking Marshall,Holding,Andy Roberts at their peak..then takes 2/33 in 10 overs.india beats windies.West Indies was the best team in the world at that time..then he goes to world cup and becomes Indias highest run getter..enough said..

Edited May 1, 2019 by neel roy

[rtmohanlal]

32 minutes ago, neel roy said:

2nd ODI, India tour of West Indies at Albion, Mar 29 1983 - just before the world cup

 

Kapil Dev scores 72 off 38 balls..i mean think about it.72 off only 38 balls in that era .against freaking Marshall,Holding,Andy Roberts at their peak..then takes 2/33 in 10 overs.india beats windies.West Indies was the best team in the world at that time..then he goes to world cup and becomes Indias highest run getter..enough said..

indeed this was the first win of India against Windies in an ODI. This kicked off a momentum that resulted  in India beating the  mighty GOAT team WI  in the final  in 83 . The result of this spree  ' from this match till world cup final' stood at 3-2 in favour of India.Kapil started off with this 72 at Albion &  sealed it with that brilliant catch of Viv in the final.Even in tests his performance in that 83  series was out of the world.All the while during those 6 months , this man proved to be a thorn for the mighty Windies , whether it be in tests,one dayers, batting ,bowling, fielding ,captaincy  ,and virtually everything. Can be easily concluded  that it was Kapil   who was the one vital  element by far  who was instrumental in bringing down the mighty Windies   and winning the world cup for India.  

[putrevus]

3 hours ago, neel roy said:

2nd ODI, India tour of West Indies at Albion, Mar 29 1983 - just before the world cup

 

Kapil Dev scores 72 off 38 balls..i mean think about it.72 off only 38 balls in that era .against freaking Marshall,Holding,Andy Roberts at their peak..then takes 2/33 in 10 overs.india beats windies.West Indies was the best team in the world at that time..then he goes to world cup and becomes Indias highest run getter..enough said..

Thats why I laugh when people say Imran was better batsmen than Kapil based on his average. Kapil Dev the batsman on his day could destroy any bowling attack on any pitch.Not many people have that ability even today.he was that rare and that great batsman.

 

People compare Pandya to kapil have no freaking idea how great that West Indies bowling attack was and how tough it was to score against them.

 

Kapil was the best odi allrounder of the fab four and it is not even close.In tests I put Botham ahead of him.

[zen]

When chasing records makes you limp

 

Quote

He actually equalled it in his 129th Test. That was a match against a weak Sri Lankan team in Bangalore. At the start of the fourth day, Sri Lanka had only three wickets left and needed 131 runs just to make India bat again. Coincidentally, Kapil needed just three wickets to pass Hadlee. With only tailenders to bowl to, the stage was set for Kapil. Captain Azharuddin even asked Anil Kumble to bowl wide of the stumps to increase Kapil’s chances of taking a wicket—which Kapil even acknowledges, gratefully, in his autobiography. Except that Anil Kumble somehow got the first wicket that morning. Now Kapil Dev could only equal the record in this Test—and would have to be given at least one more Test to break it.

 

 

Quote

By the time they followed on, the Sri Lankans seemed to want to get the match over as soon as possible, like a patient undergoing painful surgery. Support spinners Raju and Chauhan undid the top order, while Kumble picked the rest off; Sri Lanka ended the third day still 131 behind with only three wickets left. Given the state of the match on the fourth morning, Azharuddin could instruct Kumble to bowl wide of the stumps, in order to leave Kapil enough batsmen to get near Hadlee's record. Kapil drew level when he had Anurasiri caught at slip; he broke down as the emotions of the moment overwhelmed him and months of tension were washed away. The wicket also completed India's victory in the Test and the series.

 

 

 

**** 

 

1994 was also the time when Indian fans were increasingly getting frustrated with Kapil Dev, who kept prolonging his career. The stadiums used to chant "Shastri hai hai" but in an ODI vs. WI, it started to chant "Kapil Hai Hai". Kapil finally got the message and announced his retirement midway through the series: Scorecard

[rtmohanlal]

11 hours ago, zen said:

When chasing records makes you limp

 

 

 

 

 

 

**** 

 

1994 was also the time when Indian fans were increasingly getting frustrated with Kapil Dev, who kept prolonging his career. The stadiums used to chant "Shastri hai hai" but in an ODI vs. WI, it started to chant "Kapil Hai Hai". Kapil finally got the message and announced his retirement midway through the series: Scorecard

If we go thru the series wise all round record of Kapil , it is clearly visible that the place of Kapil in the test  team could never have been for granted even in his final few years.   He contributed either with the bat or with the ball , if not both.At the least,  sum  of his batting+ bowling performance in almost all series  after 89-90 NZL series was  easily adequate  for deserving a spot in the team.

 

For instance he was a failure in ENG & SAF  series with the ball, but he made up for these by batting brilliantly. In that SAF series he was by far the best batsman  of the team.In AUS series he was  a bit off with the bat with an 18.33 avg: , but he   avg:ed  25.8 with the ball.

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/30028.html?class=1;template=results;type=allround;view=series

 

In one dayers it  makes sense to blame him though. He should have retired at least after 92 world cup.Yet in that 92 world cup he emerged as the best all rounder showing a flash of his brilliance.

Edited May 2, 2019 by rtmohanlal

[neel roy]

No disrespect to anyone but people got bored/frustrated with Kapil in 1994 and wanted him to retire.Even at that age he would have been three times the player Vijay Shankar/Kedar Jadhav is today..and they will take the no 4 and no 6 in world cup 2019.. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by neel roy

[singhprakash72]

18 hours ago, zen said:

When chasing records makes you limp

 

 

 

 

 

 

**** 

 

1994 was also the time when Indian fans were increasingly getting frustrated with Kapil Dev, who kept prolonging his career. The stadiums used to chant "Shastri hai hai" but in an ODI vs. WI, it started to chant "Kapil Hai Hai". Kapil finally got the message and announced his retirement midway through the series: Scorecard

I agree Kapil was spent force after 1991-2 Aussie tour but this article wrongly states how he got the 432 wicket...it was HP Tillakaratne's wicket who came one down after openers that Kapil got. Also it is falsely claims Kapil was bowling to tailenders for his 432 wicket. In fact after getting his 432 wicket which was wicket no 2 of SL innings he stopped bowling, allowing spinners to finish the job.